June 2002.

At the beginning of the month the garden generally looked great and the Irises are out in the pond. But the area directly around the pond wasn't so great - still got a lot of work to do to get a good lush look. By the end of June the hardy annuals were beginning to come but it will be next year before the beds are really good.

The Azolla has gone mad again. In a way I quite like it because it is pretty and supresses the blanked weed but it had completely covered the pond by this week and I had to fish a lot of it out. This means I always get a fair amount of wildlife so I put it on the beach for a day or so before disposing of it. The snails don't quite seem to get it though. This photo shows some of the different colours that it goes. From deep green in the shade to bright red in the sun.

The most important news is that the Froglets are on the move! They are everywhere, and in the flowerbeds they all hop away when I weed. The stones around the pond are providing them with good cover. A stone ammonite I put on the beach always has a number hiding underneath and allowed me to get this picture of two of them. Notice that one of them is a lot more developed than the other. Because I bought frogspawn in and released the tadpoles over a period of weeks as they overcrowded the tank, we have lots of different stages of development as the ones left in the tank developed more quickly. I just love the detail of the little feet.

Here is one more photo from ground level with the guinea pig runs putting in a star appearance.